Increased Glycolysis Flux Helps to Maintain Energy Homeostasis in Muscle of Diabetic Rats with Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Bart Wessels¹, Joep Schmitz², Klaas Nicolaij¹, Jeanine J. Prompers¹

Glycolytic flux and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation are internally regulated processes that maintain cellular energy balance. In this study we used in vivo 31P MRS to investigate the effects of mitochondrial impairments on glycolytic ATP synthesis flux during muscle stimulation in diabetic and metformin-treated diabetic rats. It was demonstrated that untreated and metformin-treated diabetic rats have a lower muscle mitochondrial oxidative capacity and a faster decrease of muscle pH during muscle stimulation when compared with healthy controls. The latter implies that in both diabetic rat models, glycolytic flux during muscle contractions was higher than in controls